Pikmin 3 Review (Draft 1)

Pikmin 3 is the long-awaited third entry in the Pikmin series: The first game released in 2002 and the second game released in 2004, but this game was released much later in 2013. Because of this it is quite different from the older instalments. The first and most notable difference is the visual improvements. Pikmin 1 and Pikmin 2 were made for the Nintendo Gamecube while this game was made for the Nintendo Wii U. (The Nintendo Wii did have remakes of the first two games however that used the pointer controls of the Wii Remote.) Another difference is brought to you by the Wii U Gamepad: The screen on the controller displays a map of the area in real time. There’s no more need to pause the game to view locations. The most interesting difference however is the absence of Captain Olimar as the main character.  Instead there is Alph, Brittany and Captain Charlie who are in search of fruit seeds to feed their starving planet Koppai. Like in Pikmin 2, the aliens give interesting names to their finds. (Some of the fruit even has the same name and appearance of some of Pikmin 2’s treasures) They meet Red, Yellow and Blue Pikmin just like Olimar but instead of Purple and White the other two types found are Rock Pikmin, big (for a Pikmin, that is) walking boulders that bounce off everything and Winged Pikmin,  tiny, bee-like and have the unique ability to fly. The predators of the Pikmin are more interesting to fight: they have weak points to focus on and the huge boss enemies make Pikmin 2’s bosses look like mere strong enemies. Pikmin 3 is aimed at newcomers; instead of entertaining notes of creatures there are hints on how to beat them. The 2-Player versus mode is an enhanced version of Pikmin 2’s versus. Instead of four yellow marbles you need to retrieve specific objects to from a line in a bingo card. Multiple colours of Pikmin are also in battles, including the strong Purple Pikmin and the swift White Pikmin.